Black Gate

Neil Clarke’s editorial in the latest issue of Clarkesworld (a sequel of sorts to last issue’s editorial, “The Sad Truth About Short Fiction Reviews“) is titled “The Sad Truth About Short Fiction Magazines.”

Did you know that there are only three genre fiction magazines that completely support themselves from the revenue they generate? These are Analog, Asimov’s, and the Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, collectively known as the Big Three. Others, like Tor.com and Subterranean (now closed), are supported by the revenue of their parent companies. Below them are four more groups: the non-profits (like Strange Horizons and Beneath Ceaseless Skies); the hobbyists or beginners (typically characterized by low or no pay for authors); the aspirants (they pay authors SFWA-qualifying rates or better, but haven’t found reliable way to cover that cost); and the conceivable (the aspirants that have learned to generate enough revenue to cover costs, but not adequately compensate their staff)…

Lately, I’ve started seeing projects to resurrect dead magazines or save those that couldn’t get enough subscribers to sustain their ambitious goals. It’s uplifting to see our community rallying around these causes, but are we setting ourselves up for a fall in the process? Are we simply delaying the inevitable, like what happened with Realms of Fantasy? (For those who don’t know, Realms of Fantasy was a print magazine that kept coming back from the dead because there were people passionate enough about it to want to see it continue, but not enough to make it a viable business.)

When people debate the future of short fiction magazines in our industry, it tends to turn grim pretty quickly, and Neil’s article is no exception. Still, it’s impossible to argue with his final reasoning: if you care about the future of short fiction — and you definitely should — the most important thing you can do is try new magazines, find a few you enjoy, and support them.

Issue #109 of Clarkesworld has seven stories — five new, and two reprints — from A.C. Wise, Rich Larson, Kola Heyward-Rotimi, Karen Heuler, Hao Jingfang, G. David Nordley, and Chris Becket.

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In his editorial this month, Jason Sizemore tells us a little about the latest issue, and dishes out some excellent Halloween advice.

This month, we offer four original short stories by D.K. Thompson, Aaron Saylor, Maurice Broaddus and Arkady Martine. These stories are nothing alike in tone, setting, style, or mood. But they all share a central theme of “protection.” If you enjoy unique explorations of a singular conceit, then we have a great issue for you. And if you want your eyebrows raised and your tropes turned upside down, then read “Super Duper Fly” by Maurice Broaddus. If this story doesn’t start a discussion, then I will be very disappointed in you!

Or if you simply like a good werewolf story, well, we have that, too. It is the Witching month, after all!…

While this issue comes out several weeks prior to Halloween, I would like to close with a word of advice. If you’re giving out candy to trick-or-treaters, remember that nobody likes candy corn. Nobody.

Here’s the complete TOC.

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Issue 44 of Swords and Sorcery Magazine, cover-dated September 2015, is now available.

In his September Short Story Roundup, which appeared here in Tuesday, Fletcher Vredenburgh speaks very highly of one of this issue’s stories, “Poor Bright Folk” by James Lecky, which Fletcher says “is in contention for my favorite of the year so far.”

Elathan is a bard of the Aos Si (more commonly called the Sidhe, or fey folk) traveling through the once brightly-colored land of Orialla. On entering a forest glade he meets a woman whose very appearance unnerves him… Her name is Mual and when she asks him to play for her at her home he finds himself saying yes in words that seem to come from outside himself.

In Mual’s castle Elathan discovers she is working a vampiric sort of magic over her servants and now him. To escape her clutches and free his fellow captives the bard must use his wit and wiles. Lecky didn’t try, thankfully, to emulate some sort of old-timey style with his prose, yet “Poor Bright Folk” has the feel and resonance of the best fairy tales from out of the deeps of time.

Swords and Sorcery Magazine is edited by Curtis Ellett. Each issue contains two short stories, and is available free online. This issue also includes “Truth Be Told” by Reid Perkins, his first published work.

Here’s the complete table of contents, with story links.

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I’m still having trouble finding a reliable newsstand source for Black Static in the Western suburbs of Chicago. It takes a little effort to find a copy — but it’s definitely worth it.

Issue #48 is cover-dated September/October, and contains five stories:

“Distinguished Mole: A Tale From Somewhere” by Jeffrey Thomas
“Bandersnatch” by Stephen Bacon
“The Suffering” by Steven J. Dines
“Blood For Your Mother” by Andrew Hook
“When the Moon Man Knocks” by Cate Gardner

The magazine’s regular columns include Coffinmaker’s Blues by Stephen Volk and Notes From the Borderland by Lynda E. Rucker, plus two review columns: Blood Spectrum by Tony Lee (DVD/Blu-ray reviews); and Case Notes by Peter Tennant (book reviews). Their review columns are a model for anyone who wants to see how to do attractive magazine layout, with plenty of book covers, movie stills, and behind-the-scenes pics.

Issue 48 is nearly 100 pages and comes packed with new dark fantasy and horror, and top-notch art. Black Static is the sister magazine of Interzone (see the latest issue here); both are published by TTA Press in the UK. The distinguished Andy Cox is the editor of both.

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As I’ve noted before, if you neglect Scott H. Andrews and his magazine Beneath Ceaseless Skies for more than 15 days or so, he’ll publish two issues, making you look out of touch and behind the times. So here I am playing catch-up, because Scott publishes magazines faster than I can write about them. In this post I’m going to cover the latest issue, #184, as well as their big Seventh Anniversary Double-Issue, #183. The cover art for both issues is “Sundown” by Feliks Grzesiczek.

Let’s start with issue #184. The issue is cover-dated October 15, and contains two short stories, and a podcast.

“A Careful Fire” by Bonnie Jo Stufflebeam
They turned their backs to Mabella. Her stomach twisted as it did when she pilfered too many sweets from the kitchens. She wanted to say something and nothing. She wanted to run, but her feet throbbed. Instead she turned and walked from the winged women’s cackling silence.

“Unearthly Landscape by a Lady” by Rebecca Campbell
I found myself examining the impeccable rooms and gardens in these photographs, fearing that they, too, betrayed another world. I am ashamed to say that I was happy to have shut the door on such rooms, on Flora herself. But I could not erase the memory of the man with the Gatling gun, and the five-armed green creatures lying on the ground below him.

Audio Fiction Podcast:
A Careful Fire by Bonnie Jo Stufflebeam (Duration: 30:21 — 20.85MB)
She bursts each night when he leaves her. She does not wash the juice from her skin but hides the blue stains beneath her clothes.

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